I. 

White  Haven  Parish. 


In  reading  the  scanty  accounts 
which  have  come  down  to  us  con- 
cerning the  history  of  the  Church 
in  North  Carolina  before  1830,  it 
often  happens  that  we  come  upon 
names  of  parishes  which  convey  no 
definite  idea  of  locality,  so  com- 
pletely have  they  died  out  and  been 
forgotten.  Such  a  name  was  that 
at  the  head  of  this  article,  at  least 
to  the  writer,  until  a  few  months 
ago.  White  Haven  Parish,  Lincoln 
county,  was  familiar  as  the  parish 
of  Parson  Miller,  whose  ministry 
covered  so  long  a  period  and  saw  so 
many  and  great  changes  in  the 
Church  which  he  served  so  zeal- 
ously; but  where  White  Haven 
Parish  was  situated  no  printed  let- 
ter, or  journal,  or  clergy-list  could 
tell.  Thinking  that  others  may 
feel  a  curiosity  to  know  something 
of  this  old  parish — its  past  history 
and  its  vanishing  memories — I  have 
ventured  to  put  down  such  things 
as  I  have  been  able  to  learn  con- 
cerning it. 

White  Haven  church  stood  upon 
the  east  side  of  the  old  plank  road 
from  Charlotte  to  Lincolnton,  about 
sixteen  miles  from  Charlotte  and 
one  mile  south  of  the  present  village 
of  Lowesville  Lowesville  is  in  Lin- 
coln county,  but  the  site  of  the  old 
church  is  in  the  county  of  Gaston. 
An  old  grave  yard,  surrounded  by 
a  dry  stone  wall,  identifies  the  lo- 


(2)' 

cality  ;  and  back  of  the  grave-yard 
a  few  scattered  trunks,  dead  and 
fast  decaying,  of  what  were  once 
noble  chestnuts,  mark  the  spot 
where  the  humble  log  church  stood 
beneath  their  shade.  A  Presbyte- 
rian church,  called  Castania,  stands 
on  the  other  side  of  the  road,  a  hun- 
dred yards  or  so  nearer  to  Lowes- 
ville.  A  few  of  the  older  inhabi- 
tants of  the  country  on  both  sides 
of  the  Catawba  remember  when 
the  old  church  was  standing,  and 
once  in  a  while  an  old  man  comes 
along  who  remembers  that  he  was 
baptized  by  Parson  Miller;  but  even 
in  its  immediate  neighborhood  many 
are  ignorant  that  a  church  ever 
stood  there. 

On  the  tenth  of  August,  1885.  by 
the  kindness  of  Mr.  Frank  Blythe, 
I  was  taken  to  this  interesting  spot. 
My  companion  had  been  baptized  in 
infancy  by  Parson  Miller,  and  re- 
membered being  sent  by  his  mother, 
who  had  been  brought  up  in  that 
church,  to  take  a  hand  with  the 
neighbors  in  the  periodical  cleaning 
up  of  the  grave  yard.  But  for  his 
personal  knowledge  of  the  location 
of  the  old  church,  I  should  have 
been  unable  to  find  it,  as  none  of 
the  neighbors  could  give  me  any 
certain  information  on  this  point. 
Some  who  knew  that  a  church  had 
once  stood  there,  were  not  alto- 
gether positive  about  its  having 
been  the  original  White  Haven, 
since  another  church  of  that 
name  had  once  stood  about  two 
miles  north  of  Lowesville. 

The  grave-yard  is  still  kept  up 
and   used,    as  some    recent   graves 


and  grave  stones  testify.  But  it 
was  very  disappointing  to  find  that 
none  of  the  stones  were  of  an  early 
date,  so  far  as  appeared  by  their 
inscriptions.  I  was  told  that  the 
most  ancient  graves  lay  just  north 
of  the  present  grave  yard,  and  out- 
side the  stone  wall.  The  earliest 
date  discovered  was  1804;  and  after 
this  the  next  were  not  earlier  than 
1827.  None  were  of  any  special 
interest.  The  earliest  was  the  most 
curious,  and  the  following  inscrip- 
tion on  it  may  possibly  be  an 
effusion    of    Parson    Miller's    muse: 

Here  lies  the  body  of 

BURCHATT  KIMBELLE, 

who  was  born  March  20th,  1782.     And 
died  October  17th,  A.  D„  1804. 

Early,  not  sudden,  was  her  fate. 
Soon,   not  surprising,   Death  his    visit 

paid. 
Her  thought  went  forth  to  meet  him  on 

his  way, 
Nor  gaiety  forgot  it  was  to  die.  > 

Does  youth,  does  beauty  read  the  line? 
Does     sympathetic     fear   their    brefst 

alarm? 
Speak,  dead  Burchatt!  breathe  a  strain 

divine 
Even  from  the  grave  thou  sbalt  have 

power  to  charm 
Bid  them  give  each  day  the  merit  and 

renown 
Of  dying  well,  though  doomed  but  once 

to  die. 

The  young  lady  above  spoken  of 
was  much  beloved  and  admired 
and  her  death  caused  wide-spread 
grief  and  distress.  Persons  are  now 
living  who — though  not  old  enough 
to  remember  her — can  still  recall 
the  feeling  of  general  sorrow  at 
her   death,   which  lingered  long  in 


the  community,  and  which  was  a 
strong  testimony  to  the  beauty  and 
graces  implied  in  the  words  of  her 
epitaph. 

Besides  this  we  were  interested 
in  two  other  stones — simple,  un- 
dressed pieces  of  rough  granite — at 
the  head  of  two  neighboring  graves, 
with  only  the  inscriptions,  "C.  N., 
June,  18ol,"  and  "M.  N."  These 
my  friend  was  able  to  identify,  by 
the  initials,  the  date,  and  the  later 
head-stones  near  by,  as  the  graves 
of  his  grandfather  Clement  Nantz 
and  his  wife. 

After  leaving  the  old  grave-yard 
we  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Green 
Abernathy,  near  Cowan's  Ford,  and 
found  that  he,  his  wife,  and  another 
old  man  living  with  him,  all  remem- 
bered more  or  less  of  the  old  church 
and  the  old  Parson. 

The  following  account  is  derived 
from  various  sources,  from  printed 
journals,  from  manuscript  letters, 
and  from  personal  relations  received 
from  different  quarters.  From  Mr. 
Abernathy  were  obtained  some  new 
facts,  and  the  confirmation  of  the 
chief  points  which  had  already  been 
discovered.  The  principal  source  of 
information  is,  of  course,  Mr.  Mil- 
ler's letter'  to  Dr.  Hawks,  dated 
"Mary's  Grove,  Burke  Co.,  N.  C, 
Api'il  15th,  1830,"  which  appeared 
first  in  the  Church  Review,  and  was 
republished  in  the  Church  Messen- 
ger of  October  ]5th,  1879. 

The  Bev.  Bobert  Johnston  Miller, 
a  Scutohman  by  birth,  and  a  Metho- 
dist preacher  on  the  Tar  Biver  Cir 
cuit  in  1785,  having  lett  the  Metho- 
dists   because  he    found   that  they 


y 


were  drifting  away  from  the 
Church,  settled  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Catawba  in  1786.  At  the  re- 
quest of  the  people  of  "White- 
haven and  the  lower  and  upper 
Smyrna,"  he  began  to  act  as  lay- 
reader,  keeping  up  services  on  Sun- 
day and  catechising  the  children. 
His  congregation  were  settled  chief 
ly  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Ca- 
tawba in  what  was  then  Lincoln 
county,  though  at  present  much  of 
it  is  within  the  limits  of  Gaston 
county.  "They  were  chiefly  emi- 
grants from  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, and  Virginia,"  "a  mixed  peo- 
ple, Germans,  English,  Irish,  and 
some  Scotch,  originally,  but  at  that 
time  very  destitute  of  any  regular 
religious  instruction."  "The  most 
of  them  and  their  forefathers  were, 
and  had  been,  members  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church." 

A  congregation  was  organized,  a 
vestry  elected,  and  application  was 
made  to  the  General  Assembly  for 
an  Act  of  incorporation.  Prayer 
Books  could  not  be  obtained.  They 
had  a  few  of'the  English  Books, 
and  Mr.  Miller  prucured  two  copies 
of  the  first  edition  of  the  American 
Book  published  at  Philadelphia.  He 
also  had  printed  at  Salisbury  the 
Catechism,  to  which  he  added  some 
explanations  of  Church  principles 
and  usages. 

The  most  numerous  religious  de- 
nomination with  which  he  was 
brought  into  contact  seems  to  have 
been  the  Lutheran,  and  there  was 
something  in  their  system  of  wor- 
ship and  doctrine  more  congenial  to 
him  as  a  Churchman  than    he  found 


among  other  Protestants.  They 
were  in  great  need  oi  proper  minis- 
ters, and  after  much  persuasion  they 
prevailed  upon  Mr.  Miller  to  be  or- 
dained by  them  though  he  confesses 
that  he  never  was  able  to  feel  sat 
isficd  that  be  had  acted  agreeably 
to  his  principles  in  consenting  to 
thia.  He  took  this  step,  however, 
with  the  fullest  purpose  of  abiding 
faithful  to  the  Church,  and  in  the 
Letter  of  Orders  which  the  Luth- 
eran ministers  gave  him,  his  obedi- 
ence was  expressly  declared  to  be 
due  to  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church. 

It  was  soon  after  Mr.  Miller  be- 
gan his  work  in  this  county  that 
the  fe«v  remaining  clergy  in  the 
East  began  the  effort  for  the  organ- 
ization of  the  Diocese  of  North 
Carolina.  Mr.  Miller  was  elected  a 
member  of  the  standing  committee 
in  1793,  and  attended  the  conven- 
tion at  Tawboro  in  May,  1794,  vot- 
ing as  one  of  the  clergy  for  the  Rev. 
Charles  Pettigrew  who  was  elected 
Bisnop.  Although  this  excellent 
man  was  never  consecrated,  yet  he 
exerted  himself  to  revive  the  inter- 
ests of  the  Church  throughout  the 
State,  and  carried  on  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  this  object  in 
view.  Among  other  letters  pre- 
served by  him  is  one  from  Mr.  Mil- 
ler, the  material  parts  of  which  are 
as  follows : 

Whitehanen,  6th  of  May,  1795. 

Rev.  and  Dear  Sir: 
******* 

I  have  reason  to  hope  that  your  pious 
wishes  and  charitable  suppositions  will 
be  verified  in  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dent,  al- 
though I  have  not  had  an  opportunity 


of  a  personal  acquaintance  with  him  as 
yet;  but  those  who  have  assure  me  that 
he  is  generally  esteemed  as  a  man  of 
piety  and  learning,  which  to  us.  in  our 
pre.-ent  situation,  is,  I  hope,  no  small 
acquisition.* 

The  situation  of  the  Lutheran  clergy 
in  this  quarter,  in  my  opinion,  demands 
immediate  attention.  They  have,  since 
my  last  to  you,  lost  their  senior  mem- 
ber, the  Rev.  Mr.  A.  Nussmann, 
a  truly  worthy,  learned,  and  godly 
man,  although  bred  a  Franciscan. 
Some  of  them  have  expressed  a  desire 
of  sending  forward  a  number  of  their 
body  to  our  convention,  in  order  to 
form  some  bonds  of  coalescing,  and  I 
have  reason  to  believe  that,  should  such 
a  circumstance  take  place,  and  the  end 
accomplished  with  propriety,  it  would 
be  beneficial  to  both  parties;  but  of  this 

*In  the  list  of  the  "Names  and  Places 
of  the  Clergy,  '  in  the  Pettigrew  MS. 
ofter  the  names  of  seven  clergymen, 
numbered  consecutively,  and  their 
fields  of  labor  designated,  there  is  ad- 
ded, "the  Rev.  Mr  Dent,  near  the  Yad- 
kin river."  This  is  all  I  have  ever  seen 
in  regard  to  his  connection  with  North 
Carolina.  In  Bishop  Burgess's  "List  of 
Persons  ordained  Deacons,"  it  appears 
that  Hatch  Dent  and  Wm.  Duke  were 
ordained  by  Bishop  Seabury,  October 
16,  1785,  t  Oth  these  names  appear  in 
the  earliest  list  of  the  clergy  of  the 
Diocese  of  Maryland,  as  reported  to  the 
General  Convention  in  1792  In  1795. 
the  year  of  Mr.  Miller's  letter  to  Parson 
Pettigrew,  Mr.  Dent's  name  is  not 
among  the  Maryland  clergy,  but  it  reap- 
pears in  1799;  so  that  he  probably  came 
to  North  Carolina  in  1794  or  1795,  and 
returned  to  Maryland  alter  only  a  short 
stay. 

Since  writing  the  above  note  I  have 
been  pleased  to  find,  by  reading  Mr. 
John  S.  Henderson's  Sketch  of  the 
Church  in  Rowan  (published  in  Dr. 
Rumple 's  History  of  Rowan  County), 
that  my  conjecture  in  regard  to  "Mr. 
Dent,  near  the  Yadkin  river."  is  cor- 
rect. I  learn  also  that  Mr.  Dent  was 
the  uncle  of  two  clergymen  now  in 
North  Carolina— the  Rev.  Messrs.  Rich- 
ard W.,  and  SamuelS  Barber. 


you  would  be  a  much  better  judge, 
were  you  to  visit  this  quarter  in  your 
official  character;  and  you  will  permit 
me  to  hope  that  the  period  is  not  far 

distant 

*  *  *  * 

As  for  myself  and  flock,  I  have  abun- 
dant reason  to  be  thankful  to  God  for 
health  of  body  and  peace  of  mind,  al- 
though my  progress  in  the  knowledge, 
love,  and  service  of  Him  is  far  too  tor- 
pid; but  with  some  of  my  charge,  at 
least,  I  hope  it  is  otherwise,  and  may 
God  of  His  mercy  grant  that  it  may 
soon  be  generally  so. 

The  returns  from  the  Register  of  Bap- 
tisms, from  Easter  ninety- four  to  Eas- 
ter ninety-five,  is  eighty-five  infants 
and  nine  adults;  and  the  deaths  are 
three  venerable  and  godly  oJd  men, 
from  eighty-seven  to  ninety  five  years 
of  age,  one  woman  *  *  *  and 
her  infant  *  *  *  and  a  man 
about  forty-six.        *        *        *        * 

We  suffer  much  for  a  sufficient  sup- 
ply of  Prayer-Books  here,  and  it  is  a 
great  bar  to  uniformity  in  our  public 
assemblies  in  the  outward  mode  of 
worship;  and  I  sincerely  wish  that 
some  effectual  means  could  be  devised 
to  remedy  this  evil. 

I  am,  my  dear  and  Reverend  Sir, 
Your  Son  and  affectionate  Friend  in 
the  Gospel,  R.  J.  Miller. 

The  Rev.  Mr.  Pettigrew,  Bishop  elect  of 

North  Carolina. 

After  this  letter  we  have  no  cer- 
tain information  concerning  White 
Haven  for  many  years.  Mr,  Miller 
had  extended  his  labors  over  a  large 
territory,  and  early  in  this  century 
he  removed  to  Burke  county,  to 
that  part  since  erected  into  Cald- 
well county,  near  the  present  town 
of  Lenoir.  He  continued  to  visit 
his  old  parish  at  intervals,  but  of 
the  particulars  of  its  history  we 
have  no  Knowledge.     This  removal 


took   plane    probably   about    1810 ; 
certainly  before  1811. 

When  he  left  White  Haven  he 
recommended  to  his  people  a  Luth- 
eran minister  by  the  name  of  David 
Henckel,  though  he  visited  the 
church  for  divine  service  occasion- 
ally. On  one  of  thesp  visits  some 
misunderstanding  arose  between  the 
two  about  the  use  of  the  church, 
both  of  them  having  made  appoint- 
ments tor  the  same  day.  This  re 
suited  in  the  building  of  another 
church  by  Henckel  and  his  adhe- 
rents, a  mile  or  two  north  of  Lowes 
ville,  which  new  church  was  also 
known  as  White  Haven — thus  giv 
ing  rise  to  the  confusion  about  the 
name  which    was  mentioned  before. 

David   Henckel    seems    to    have 
been  an   asserter  and  maintainer  of 
the   conservative  and    sacramental 
system  of  doctrine    held  by  the  old 
Lutherans,   and    to    have    opposed 
the  tendency  towards   the  baldness 
and   emptiness  of  Zwinglinism  pre- 
valent  among  them  in  later  times. 
This   gave  great  offence  to  Metho 
dists  and  others,  and  very  extrava 
gant  accounts    were    given   of  Mr. 
Henckel's  teaching  in  regard  to  the 
power   of    absolution,    etc.     Differ- 
ences     upon      these,      and      other 
points,  gave  rise  to  bitter  disputes 
among   the   Lutherans   themselves, 
and    finally  led   to  a  schism   which    w 
has  not  been  entirely  healed  to  this 
day.     A   large   number   of  Luther- 
ans— the  bulk  of  those  in  Tennessee, 
and   many  congregations    in  North 
Carolina — were  known  as  Henckel 
ites ;  and  so  fierce  was   the  conten 
tion   between  the  two  factions  that 


10 

in  Cabarrus  county  cases  are  known 
where  worshippers  carried  their 
fire-arms  to  church  on  Sunday  in 
order  to  be  ready  to  defend  then- 
occupation  of  the  building  against 
the  expected  claim  of  their  oppo 
nents.  This,  however,  is  a  digres- 
sion, and  has  nothing  to  do  with 
White  Haven. 

The  story  of  the  old  parish  is  al 
most  ended.  It  never  had  enjoyed 
the  benefit  of  regular  ministerial 
services,  and  the  wonder  is  that  it 
lived  as  long  as  it  did.  Any  vigor 
ous  or  aggressive  life  was,  under 
the  circumstances,  impossible.  Those 
who  had  brought  from  other  parts 
the  knowledge  and  the  love  of  the 
Church  had  died  out,  and  their 
children  not  unnaturally  fell  away. 
Some  families  of  intelligence  and 
culture,  and  also  some  of  the  plainer 
but  substantial  inhabitants  of  the 
neighborhood,  adhered  for  years  to 
the  Church  of  tbeir  fathers.  The 
names  Forney,  Abernathy,  Shipp, 
Nantz,  Hager,  Eobinson,  Burton, 
Fite,  are  still  associated  with  the 
memory  of  the  old  parish.  The 
revival  of  the  Church  under  Bishop 
Ravenscroft  and  Bishop  Ives  came 
too  late;  and  for  many  years  the 
Church  in  this  diocese  was  too  ill  - 
lurnished  with  ministers  to  look 
properly  after  this  scattered  and 
distant  flock.  The  parish  of  White 
Haven  was  indeed  admitted  into 
union  with  the  convention  under 
the  nominal  rectorship  of  Parson 
Miller  in  1822;  in  1828  Dr.  Wm. 
Johnston  was  appointed  by  the  con- 
vention to  solicit  funds  in  this  par- 
ish for  the  Missionary  Society  ;  and 
in  1824  Robert  H.  Burton  and  Dan 
iel  M.  Forney  were  appointed  lay- 
readers.  Bishop  Ravenscroft  made 
two  visitations  to  it  in  1824,  and 
confirmed  sixteen  persons,  probably 
the  old  communicants  who  had 
never  before  had  an  opportunity  of 
receiving  the  Laying  on  of  Hands. 
But  Bishop  Ravenscroft  saw  clearly, 


11 

and  intimates  in  his  Address  to  the 
Convention  of  1826,  that  there 
was  little  hope  of  the  continuance 
of  the  congregation.  It  seems  that 
some  of  the  original  Churchmen 
were  so  much  identified  with  the 
Lutherans,  by  reason  ot  their  per 
sonal  affection  for  Mr.  Henckel,  that 
they  became  almost  entirely 
estranged  from  the  Church,  of  which 
indeed  they  had  seen  and  known 
but  little.  Add  the  further  fact  that 
this  was  the  period  of  the  great 
exodus  from  North  Carolina  to  the 
West  and  South  west,  and  that  a 
very  large  proportion — perhaps  the 
best  part  in  strength  and  influence 
of  the  congregation — about  this 
time  removed  to  Missouri,  and  the 
extinction  of  the  old  parish  is  easily 
accounted  for.  Mr.  Miller  for  some 
years  made  occasional  mention  of  it 
in  his  reports;  but  in  1833,  when 
Bishop  Ives  made  his  first  visita 
tion  to  this  part  of  the  djocese,  he 
could  find  but  three  or  four  persons 
in  Lincoln  county  who  still  adhered 
to  the  Church,  though  be  made 
"diligent  inquiry."  The  Rev.  Ed- 
ward M.  Forbes  began  his  work  in 
Lincoln  county  in  fc§4#-;  he  makes /o^/ 
no  mention  of  any  congregation  or 
parish  in  the  county.  Two  years 
after  he  seems  to  have  begun  work 
at  White  Haven,  and  in  ig*4=the  Rev.  /fyS 
A.  F.  Olmsted  reports  a  visitation  of 
the  Bishop,  and  seven  confirmations, 
and  fourteen  communicants.  Mr. 
Olmsted  left  Lincolnton  in  1846,  *  />  _#£  -  , 
and  trbarl,  >eai,  Juiie— 45£fe,  Bishop  /^^  "  *  /ty"~ 
Ives  made  his  see#ed-  and  last  visi-  rfi^^& 
tation.  From  that  day  to  this,  so 
far  as  is  known,  the  sound  of  the 

ancient  services  of  the  Church  has  n       a     £/       &    ^     —> 

never  been  heard  in    White  Haven.  *'    /d^  2*- #^**~  *-*^  *<~ 
The  site  of  the  old   church  is  a  eul  <£<^<rHx^$Zitj  ^ sfaL«L<l  /<fy, 

tivated  field,  and  persons  whose 
memory  goes  back  thirty  years  re- 
member it  only  as  it  is  now 

The    history  of  White  Haven  is 
ended.  J.  B.  C,  Jr. 

Oct.  3,  1885. 


II. 

Robert  Johnston   Miller. 


There  is  no  more  interesting 
character  in  the  annals  of  the 
Church  in  North  Carolina  than  the 
man  whose  name  stands  at  the  head 
of  this  article.  In  the  course  of  his 
long  life  he  had  strange  ecclesiasti- 
cal experiences.  He  himself  tells 
us  that  in  the  perplexities  of  his 
situation  he  did  not  alwa3Ts  succeed 
in  making  a  correct  application  of 
his  principles  to  the  facts  before 
him  ;.yet  no  one  can  study  his  his- 
tory without  being  impressed  with 
the  feeling  that  even  in  his  mistakes 
of  judgment  he  displayed  noble 
qualities  of  heart.  In  every  action 
of  his  life,  so  far  as  we  know  it,  he 
commands  our  sympaty  and  respect. 
The  following  too  meager  account 
of  him  is  gathered  from  various 
soui-ces — ^partly  oral,  partly  manu- 
script, partly  published  histories, 
journals,  letters.  The  fullest  ac- 
counts of  his  life  to  be  met  with  in 
print  are  probably  in  his  letter  to 
Dr.  Hawks,  referred  to  in  a  former 
article  on  White  Haven  parish,  and 
in  Dr.  Bernheim's  History  of  the 
German  Settlements  and  Lutheran 
Churches  in  Carolina. 

Robert  Johnston  Miller,  the  third 
son  of  George  and  Margaret  Miller, 
was  born  in  Baldovia,  Angusshire, 
Scotland,   July    11th,   1758.*       His 

*These  particulars  of  his  early  life  are 
taken  from  Dr.  Bernheim  's  work  above 
alluded  to.    I  know  not  whence  he  de- 


13 

parents  are  said  to  have  intended 
him  for  the  ministry,  and  with  this 
view  to  have  sent  him  to  the  classi- 
cal school  at  Dundee.  He  was  bred 
up  in  the  communion  of  "the  Cath- 
olic remainder"  of  the  Church  of 
Scotland,  under  the  pastoral  care  of 
the  venerable  Bishop  Kail,  so  long 
as  he  remained  in  his  native  coun 
try  ;  but  when  he  was  fifteen  years 
old  an  elder  brother,  then  a  pros- 
perous merchant  in  Charlestown, 
Massachusetts,  invited  him  to  make 
his  home  with  him,  and  he  therefore 
came  to  America,  arriving  in  1774. 
During  the  war  of  the  Revolution  he 
enlisted  upon  the  American  side, 
and  was  in  the  battles  of  Long- 
Island,  of  Brandy  wine,  and  of  White 
Plains,  in  the  first  of  which  he  re 
ceived  a  flesh  wound  in  the  face;  he 
was  also  with  the  army  during  the 
memorable  winter  at  Valley  Forge. 
He  came  South  with  the  army,  and 
was  in  Virginia  when  it  was  dis- 
banded upon  the  conclusion  of  hos- 
tilities, and  for  a  time  made  his 
home  in  that  State. 

At  this  period  of  his  life  he  became 
identified  with  the  Methodists,  and 
for  a  time  acted  as  one  of  their 
preachers.  The  Methodists  at  this 
time  distinctly  repudiated  the  idea 
that  they  intended  any  separation 
from  the  Church,  and  were  consid- 
ered by  Mr.  Miller  as  being  Church- 
men.    Having  left  home  at  so  early 

rived  them,  but  there  are  incidental 
correspondences  between  this  account 
and  Mr.  Miller's  briefer  mention  of  his 
early  years,  which  lead  me  to  conclude 
that  Dr.  Bernheim  had  access  to  authen- 
tic sources  of  information. 


14 

an  age,  and  having  thereby  been 
deprived  of  proper  instruction  in 
Church  principles,  it  is  not  to  be 
supposed  that  he  had  very  clear  and 
intelligent  views  on  the  subject, 
though  his  convictions  appear  to 
have  been  firm  at  all  times.  He 
was  very  strongly  drawn  towards 
the  Methodists  by  ttie  stress  which 
they  laid  upon  the  importance  of 
personal  religious  experience,  and 
by  the  enthusiasm  and  Christian 
zeal  which  from  the  first  character- 
ized this  great  movement.  While 
one  of  their  preachers  he  rode  with 
Dr.  Coke  from  Virginia  to  attend  a 
conference  held  in  the  fall  of  1784  in 
Franklin  county,  N.  C,  and  con- 
tinued with  Coke  for  several  weeks-. 
Their  conversation  was  chiefly  upon 
Coke's  plan  for  organizing  the 
Methodists  of  America  into  what 
was  to  be  called  the  Methodist  Epis- 
copal Church — up  to  this  time  it 
having  been  only  a  society  making 
no  claim  to  have  power  of  ordination 
and  the  administration  of  the  sacra- 
ments. Mr.  Miller  tells  us  that  he 
was  unable  to  give  his  assent  to  this 
plan,  since  it  had  early  been  im- 
pressed upon  his  mind  that  to  con- 
stitute a  true  branch  of  the  Church 
there  must  be  the  apostolic  ministry 
transmitted  by  episcopal  ordination. 
It  may  be  remarked  here  that  there 
is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  Mr. 
Miller,  while  a  Methodist  preacher, 
ever  undertook  to  administer  the 
sacraments.  With  his  known  views 
on  the  subject  it  is  quite  certain  that 
he  never  did.  Yery  few  of  the  most 
extreme  of  their  ministers  had  up  to 
this  period  ventured  upon  this  step  ; 


15 

an  attempt  made  by  some  of  those 
in  Virginia  just  before  this  to  ordain 
ministers  and  to  administer  the 
sacraments,  had  caused  great  dis- 
sensions amongst  them.  In  this 
very  year  of  1784  the  Rev.  Devereux 
Jarratt  tells  us  that  he  was  present 
at  the  conference  held  at  Ellis's,  in 
Virginia,  and  that  Asbury  himself 
was  in  attendance  "still  striving  to 
render  an  attachment  to  the  Church 
yet  more  firm  and  permanent.  For 
this  end  he  had  brought  Mr.  Wes- 
ley's Twelve  Reasons  against  a  sepa- 
ration from  the  Church,"  the  first  of 
which  reasons  was,  "because  it 
would  be  a  contradiction  to  the  sol- 
emn and  repeated  declarations, 
wbich  we  have  made  in  all  manner 
of  ways." 

These  weeks  of  intercourse  with 
Coke,  and  the  rapid  progress  of 
events  at  this  period,  opened  Mr. 
Miller's  eyes  to  the  change  in  the 
attitude  assumed  by  the  Methodists, 
though  he  did  not  at  once  sever  his 
connection  with  them.  During  the 
year  1785  he  acted  as  preacher 
upon  the  Tar  River  circuit,  but  at 
the  end  of  -the  year  he  withdrew 
from  the  conference,  being  unwill- 
ing to  co  operate  with  them  in  tbeir 
open  and  avowed  separation  from 
the  Church.  He  cheerfully  testifies 
to  the  brotherly  kindness  which 
had  marked  his  intercourse  with  the 
members  of  the  conference,  and 
says  that  they  publicly  declared 
that  they  had  nothing  against  him, 
but  that  he  had  voluntarily  with- 
drawn on  account  of  bis  "disap- 
probation of  their  conduct  and 
rules." 


16 

His  health  having  shown  signs  oj 
failing  in  the  low  country,  be  re 
moved  in  1786  to  the  west  bank  of 
the  Catawba  in  Lincoln  county 
(now  Gaston  county)  and  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  inhabitants,  who  were 
very  destitute  of  religious  instruc- 
tion, he  began  to  act  as  lay  reader 
and  catechist,  as  has  been  narrated 
in  the  account  of  White  Haven 
parish.  His  ministrations  seem  to 
have  proved  very  acceptable  to  the 
people,  and  gradually  extended  his 
influence  among  those  of  the  in- 
habitants who  had  been  attached  to 
the  Episcopal  Church  in  the 
countries  from  which  they  had  emi- 
grated. 

Mr.  Miller  now  found  himself  in  a 
very  distressing  situation.  There 
were  no  ministers  of  the  Church 
within  hundreds  of  miles  of  him. 
He  could  not  baptize  nor  administer 
any  holy  ordinance.  His  people 
had  to  go  to  the  Lutheran  or  the 
Presbyterian  ministers  to  have 
their  children  baptized,  or  to  let 
them  go  unbaptized. ,  He  does  not 
seem  to  have  felt  any  inclination  to- 
wards seeking  a  closer  union  with 
the  Presbyterians.  His  feelings  as 
a  Scotch  Episcopalian  probably  ren- 
dered such  a  thought  distasteful  to 
him,  and  he  knew  that  their  doc- 
trines and  his  were  too  different  to 
allow  such  an  association  to  be  a 
comfortable  one.  On  the  contrary 
there  was  much  in  the  old  Latheran 
teaching  in  regard  to  the  sacra- 
ments which  as  a  Churchman  he 
could  approve,  and  there  was  in  his 
mind  no  inherited  or  acquired  pre- 
judice against  them.     It  is  possible 


17 

that  he  knew  that  many  of  the 
Lutheran  churches  had  preserved 
the  Episcopal  form  of  government, 
and  that  the  Scandinavian  Church 
is  generally  conceded  to  have  pre- 
served the  Apostolic  Episcopate. 
Their  liturgical  worship,  wiih  the 
familiar  Collects,  Epistles,  and  Gos- 
pels, and  their  observance  of  the 
holy  seasons  of  the  Christian  year, 
must  also  have  had  no  little  infiu 
ence  in  inclining  him  to  a  closer 
union  with  his  Lutheran  neighbors, 
who  formed  a  considerable  and  a 
very  estimable  portion  of  the  popu- 
lation of  Lincoln,  Eowan,  and 
Mecklenburg  counties.  And  when 
the  idea  was  suggested  by  them 
that  he  should  receive  ordination 
from  them,  it  must  have  occurred 
to  him  that  if  he  should  consent  to 
this  his  people  would  at  least  be  in 
no  worse  case  than  they  were  in 
already.  And  so  finally,  notwith- 
standing an  irrepressible  feeiing 
that  he  might  be  making  a  mistake, 
he  consented  to  be  ordained,  and  in 
St  John's  church,  Cabarrus  county, 
May  20th,  1794,  at  the  first  Lutheran 
eynodical  meeting  ever  held  in  North 
Carolina,  Robert  Johnston  Miller,  an 
avowed  Episcopalian,  was  ordained 
by  the  Lutheran  Ministeriun,,  the 
first  English  Lutheran  minister  in 
North  Carolina,  and  the  first  Luthe- 
ran minister  of  any  kind  ordained 
in  this  State.* 

*  "Their  congregations  (the  Luther 
ans)  were  at  that  time  in  a  very  de- 
clining state,  and  overrun  by  impostors 
assuming  the  ministerial  office  without 
any  regular  authority  whatsoever.  To 
remedy  these  evils   they    pressed  me 


18 

Mr.  Miller  I  say,  was  an  avowed 
Episcopalian,  and  even  in  taking 
this  extraordinary  step  be  was  care 
ful  not  to  be  misunderstood.  Tbe 
ordination  certificate,  as  given  by 
Dr.  Bernheim  from  tbe  original 
document,  agrees  witb  wbat  Mr. 
Miller  himself  tells  us  in  regard  to  it, 
and  is  as  follows : 
"To  all  whom  it  may  concern,  greeting: 

Whereas,  A  great  number  of 
Christian  people  in  Lincoln  county 
bave  formed  themselves  into  a 
society  by  the  name  of  White 
Haven  Church,  and  also  having 
formed  a  vestry:  We,  the  subscri- 
bers, having  been  urged  by  the 
pressing  call  from  the  said  Cburch 
to  ordain  a  minister  for  the  good  of 
their  children,  and  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  ye  Gospel  ordtnances  among 
them,  from  us  the  ministers  of  the 
Lutheran  Church  in  North  Carolina" 
(here  much  of  the  certificate  is  torn 
away  and  lost)  "according  to  ye  in- 
fallible word  of  God,  administer  ye 

with  the  plea  of  necessity,  to  accept 
ordination  from  their  hands,  and  men- 
tioned that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Pilmour,  of 
Philadelphia,  had  done  so  in  the  time 
of  the  Revolutionary  war.  There  is 
now  and  was  then  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  Presbyterian  clergy  in  this  sec- 
tion, and  the  most  of  them  with  whom 
I  had  any  intimacy  recommended  tbe 
same  course,  and  the  congregation 
earnestly  requested  me  to  accept  of  it, 
and  that  they  would  be  perfectly  satis- 
fied with  my  ministrations.  In  short, 
as  I  thought  then,  and  do  think  now, 
conrary  to  my  own  better  sentiments, 
I  consented  to  receive  the  ordination 
from  them ,  not  as  a  Lutheran  minister, 
but  as  an  Episcopalian." — Mr.  Miller'' $ 
Letter  to  Lh'  Hawks. 


19 

sacraments,  and  to  have  ye  care  of 
souls;  he  always  being  obliged  to 
obey  ye  rules,  ordinances  and  cus- 
toms of  ye  Christian  Society  called 
ye  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  in 
America.  Given  under  our  hands 
and  seals,  North  Carolina,  Cabarrus 
county,  May  20th,  1794.  Signed 
by  Adolphus  Nussmann,  Sr.,  Johan 
Gottfriedt  Arendt,  Arnold  Roschen, 
Christopher  Bernhardt  and  Charles 
Storch." 

Dr.  Bernheim  states  that  "on  the 
reverse  side  of  this  certificate  the 
Lutheran  ministers  gave  their  rea- 
sons why  they  had  ordained  a  man 
who  was  attached  to  the  Episcopal 
Church  as  a  minister  of  that  de 
nomination,"  but  with  a  reserve 
characteristic  of  his  dealings  with 
delicate  questions,  he  is  careful  to 
give  not  the  least  intimation  what 
those  reasons  were.       J.  B.  C.  Jr. 


An  interesting  part  of  Mr.  Mil- 
ler's history  is  his  connection  with 
the  effort  to  organize  the  diocese  of 
North  Carolina,  and  to  obtain  a 
bishop  for  it,  in  1794.  His  attach- 
ment to  the  Church,  and  his  activit}7 
in  keeping  up  its  influence  and  its 
services,  st,em  to  have  been  widely 
known;  and  at  the  meeting  in  Taw- 
boro,  Nov.  21st,  1793,  he  was  elected 
a  member  of  the  standing  commit- 
tee, and  was  notified  of  the  meeting 
to  be  held  May  28th,  1794,  for  the 
purpose  of  perfecting  the  organiza- 
tion and  electing  a  bishop.  He 
must  have  gone  immediately  from 
his  Lutheran  ordination  to  the  Epis- 
copal Convention,  for  he  appeared 
upon  the  first  day  of  the  session — 


20 

May  28;  and  at  that  time  it  could 
hardly  have  required  less  than  a 
week  to  travel  from  Cabarrus  coun- 
ty to  Tawboro.  At  this  meeting  he 
took  his  seat  as  one  of  the  clergy, 
reading  the  Morning  Service  on  the 
second  day ;  he  was  chosen  a  cleri- 
cal member  of  the  standing  com- 
mittee, voted  as  a  clergyman  in  the 
election  of  a  bishop,  and  signed  the 
testimonial  which  was  transmitted 
to  the  General  Convention,  as  one 
of  the  clergy,  as  may  be  seen  by 
reference  to  the  testimonial,  given 
in  Bishop  White's  Memoirs.  In  the 
proceedings  of  this  convention  of 
3794  there  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  he  had  not  been  duly  ordained  ; 
but  in  the  list  of  the  "Names  and 
Places  of  the  Clergy"  in  the  Petti- 
grew  MS.,  though  his  name  and 
parish  stand  first  in  the  list,  there 
is  a  note  added  at  the  bottom  : — 
"P.  S.  The  Kev.  Kobert  Johnston 
Miller,  White  Haven  Parish,  Lincoln 
Co.,  a  Lutheran  minister."  In  one 
of  Mr.  Pettigrew's  letters  to  Bishop 
White,  he  says  of  him:  "At  our 
convention  there  was  a  gentleman 
who  had  been  ordained  in  the  Luth- 
eran Church,  and  wished  his  ordi- 
nation could  be  recognized  in  our 
Church,  and,  indeed,  signified  that 
if  it  should  be  considered  invalid,  ho 
would  submit  to  a  re-ordination. 
He  appears  to  be  a  decent  man.  He 
has  since  our  convention  wrote  me 
that  he  thinks  the  society  would 
wish  (of  which  there  are  a  number 
of  respectable  clergy)  a  coalition 
with  our  Church." 

After   this  convention   Mr.  Miller 
returned    with    new    ardor  to    his 


21 

parochial  duties,  and  seems  to  have 
had  great  hopes  of  the  prosperity 
of  the  Church  when  Mr.  Pettigrew 
should  be  consecrated  and  begin  his 
work  as  bishop.  He  exerted  him- 
self to  incline  the  few  Lutheran 
ministers  towards  a  plan  for  union 
with  the  Church,  and  hoped  that 
the  influence  of  Mr.  Pettigrew 
might  accomplish  this  to  the  advan 
tage  of  all  concerned.  These  hopes 
are  indicated  in  his  letter  to  Mr. 
Pettigrew,  dated  May  6th,  1795. 
But  unfortunate  circumstances  pre- 
vented the  hoped  for  consecration, 
upon  which  so  much  seemed  to  de- 
pend, and  Mr.  Miller  was  left  pow- 
erless to  do  anything  for  the  effec- 
tual building  up  of  the  Church.  It 
was  many  a  long  year  before  he 
again  saw  the  face  of  an  Episcopal 
minister. 

For  nealy  thirty  years  after  his 
ordination  by  the  Lutherans,  Mr. 
Miller  continued  to  be  one  of  their 
most  active  and  influential  minis- 
ters. As  Secretary  of  their  Synod, 
as  a  zealous  and  untiring  mission- 
ary, and  as  a  member  ot  most  im- 
portant committees,  he  appears  as 
exerting  no  little  influence  upon  the 
growth  and  development  of  the 
Lutheran  denomination,  not  only 
in  North  Carolina,  but  in  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  and  South  Carolina,  as 
well.  He  tells  us  that  he  drew  up 
the  constitution  adopted  by  the 
Synod  in  1803,  upon  the  lines  of  the 
constitution  which  had  been  adopted 
by  the  General  Convention ;  and 
that  it  was  intended  as  a  basis  of 
union  between  the  Lutherans  and 
Episcopalians      while     the      latter 


22 

should  remain  in  their  unorganized 
condition.  He  says  further  that 
when  he  first  entered  their  ministry 
he  reserved  to  himself  and  his  peo- 
ple perfect  liberty  "to  return  and 
unite  in  full,  and  without  any  im- 
pediment, with  the  bosom  of  the 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  when- 
ever it  should  please  God  to  revive 
her  in  this  State  ; "  and  that  "by 
the  spirit,  terms,  and  obligation  of 
our  union,  they  [the  Lutherans] 
were  bound  to  forward  this  object 
to  the  utmost  of  their  ability."  Mr. 
Miller  says  that  this  union  was 
effected  and  the  constitution  drawn 
up  at  Salisbury.  Dr.  Bernheim 
mentions  the  meeting  at  Salisbury, 
May  2d,  1803,  but  says  that  the 
constitution  was  not  adopted  until 
the  second  session  of  the  Synod, 
held  at  Lincolnton,  Oct.  17th,  of 
the  same  year.  He  does  not  give 
any  account  of  what  were  the  se^ 
ral  articles  of  the  constitution  then 
adopted.  He  mentions  that  Mr. 
Miller  was  Secretary  of  this  and  of 
the  next  Synod,  1804.  Mr.  Miller 
resisted  the  tendency  among  the 
Lutherans  at  this  period  towards 
loose  views  of  the  ministerial  office, 
and  has  the  honor  of  being  the  only 
member  of  the  Synod  of  1817  whose 
vote  was  given  against  allowing 
unordained  men  to  administer  the 
sacraments.  In  the  same  year  he 
was  one  of  a  committee  of  three  to 
examine  and  report  upon  a  book 
called  "Luther,"  which  was  after- 
wards published  by  the  Synod  for 
the  doctrinal  instruction  of  their 
people. 

But  it  was  not  only  in  the  Luth. 


23 

eran  Synods  that  he  was  active  and 
prominent.  His  chief  work  was 
pastoral.  None  of  his  associates 
Hurpassed  him  in  parochial  diligence 
and  missionary  enterprise.  Besides 
his  parish  of  White  Haven  he 
served  several  other  churches,  St. 
Peter's  and  Smyrna,  in  Lincoln 
county;  St.  Michael's,  in  Iredell; 
and  afterwards  St.  Andrew's,  in 
Burke,  though  the  last  was  not 
organized  until  after  he  had  been 
ordained  by  Bishop  Moore.  He 
also  ministered  with  more  or  less 
regularity  in  Salisbury,  and  in  the 
neighborhood  of  the  present  parish 
of  Christ  Church,  Rowan  county. 
His  principle  charges,  however, 
were  White  Haven  and  St.  Mi- 
chael's. The  latter  was  composed 
partly  of  German  Lutherans  and 
partly  of  Churchmen  who  had 
emigrated  from  Maryland  about 
1794,  part  of  the  colony  which 
came  to  Rowan  in  that  year. 

It  was  during  this  period  of  his 
Lutheran  ministry  that  he  removed 
to  Burke  county,  where  he  contin 
ued  to  reside,  near  the  site  of  the 
present  town  of  Lenoir,  until  his 
death.  In  what  year  he  made  this 
change  is  unknown  to  the  writer, 
though  it  must  have  been  before 
the  year  1811.  He  had  also  mar- 
ried a  Miss  Perkins,  of  Lincoln 
county,  by  whom  he  hud  several 
children,  some  of  whom  are  st'll 
living. 

In  1811,  he  set  out  from  his  home 
in  Burke  county  upon  an  extensive 
tour,  being  sent  out  by  the  Synod, 
the  first  of  a  number  of  exploring 
missionaries ,  who  were  to  seek  out 


24 

scattered  Lutherans,  and  not  only 
to  minister  to  them  as  occasion 
should  serve,  but  also  to  report  to 
the  Synod  the  condition  and  pros- 
pects of  the  missionary  field.  In 
the  performance  of  this  arduous 
duty  he  travelled  through  a  good 
part  of  Virginia,  and  of  South 
Carolina,  and  also  into  Tennessee. 
He  made  an  interesting  report  to 
the  Synod,  extracts  from  which  are 
given  by  Dr.  Bernheim.  It  con- 
cludes thus:  "On  my  whole  tour 
I  have  baptized  this  year  two 
adults  and  S'xty  children,  preached 
sixty-seven  times,  travelled  three 
thousand  miles,  and  received  $77.44 
for  my  support,  without  asking  for 
a  cent  in  any  way,  and  arrived  at 
home  in  health  and  safety.  Honor, 
thanks,  and  praise  be  to  the  Lord  " 
The  year  1817  was  almost  as 
much  of  an  epoch  to  the  Lutherans 
as  it  was  to  the  Churchmen  of 
North  Carolina,  though  of  a  d  ffer- 
ent  character.  In  the  Synod  which 
met  in  October,  1817,  the  latitudi- 
narians  carried  the  day  in  regard 
to  the  licensing  of  unordained  men 
to  administer  the  sacraments,  and 
by  that  and  other  action  under  the 
leadership  of  the  Moravian,  Gotlieb 
Shober,  laid  the  foundation  for  the 
split  with  the  party  led  by  David 
Henkel,  and  the  consequent  organi- 
zation of  the  Tennessee  Synod. 
Mr.  Miller,  as  was  before  remarked, 
was  the  only  minister  in  the  Synod 
who  opposed  this  measure  to  the 
end  ;  and  he  seems  to  have  taken  a 
part  in  only  one  subsequent  meet- 
ing, viz.,  that  in  1819.  The  organi- 
zation of  the  Diocese  of  North  Car- 


25 

olina,  in  1817,  and  the  visitations  of 
Bishop  Moore  in  1819  and  again  in 
1820,  encouraged  him  i.o  hope  that 
the  long  desired  opportunity  of  ob- 
taining episcopal  ordination  was 
now  at  hand.  In  1821  the  conven- 
tion met  in  Raleigh,  April  28th. 
Mr.  Miller  attended,  and  on  Tues- 
day, May  1st,  in  the  forenoon,  after 
divine  service  in  the  Methodist 
church,  he  was  ordained  deacon  by 
Bishop  Richard  Channing  Moore,  of 
the  Diocese  of  Virginia.  In  the 
evening  of  the  same  daj'  he  was  ad- 
vanced to  the  priesthood. 

Of  Mr.  Miller's  history  after  this 
period  we  must  speak  very  briefly, 
and  must  confine  ourselves  to  his 
pastoral  labors.  His  efforts  to  effect 
a  fraternal  alliance  between  the 
Lutheran  Synod  and  the  Diocesan 
Convention  require  a  separate  arti- 
cle. But  before  leaving  this  subject 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  say  that 
he  did  not  feel  that  after  his  ordina- 
tion in  1821  he  met  with  the  co 
operation  from  his  late  associates, 
which  by  the  spirit  and  terms  of 
their  union  he  had  a  right  to  expect. 
The  lesson  which  he  draws  from  his 
experience  is  that  it  is  vain,  if  not 
absurd,  to  suppose  "that  the  suc- 
cessful attempt  of  amalgamating 
the  different  sects,  creeds,  order, 
and  worship  of  all  those  who  call 
themselves  Christians,  will,  or  can, 
produce  that  unity  of  faith  and 
practice  enjoined  by  the  pure  Word 
of  God."  "And  it  furnishes  us  with 
an  experimental  demonstration,  how 
impossible  it  is  to  attempt,  in  any 
degree,  a  compromise  with  error, 
schism,  or  heresy,  without  injury  to 


26 

the  truth."  He  seems  to  have  found 
it  impossible  to  recover  for  the 
Church  those  congregations  which 
in  consequence  of  his  action  had 
been  for  thirty  years  identified  with 
the  Lutherans,  and  he  sadly  reflects 
that  "neither  sorrow  nor  lamenta 
tion  will  recover  the  ground  that 
has  been  lost  to  the  Episcopal  cause 
in  this  section  of  the  country  in 
consequence  of  that  fatal  error  of 
mine." 

After  his  admission  to  the  minis- 
try of  the  Church,  Mr.  Miller  labored 
most  faithfully  as  long  as  his 
strength  endured.  Christ  Church, 
Rowpn,  was  admitted  into  union 
with  the  convention  with  Almond 
Hall  as  its  representative  in  1821; 
St.  Michael's,  Iredell  county,  and 
White  Haven  and  Smyrna,  in  Lin- 
coln, in  1822  ;  St.  Peter's,  Lincoln 
county,  and  St.  Andrew's,  Burke 
county,  in  1823.  All  these  were  the 
fruits  of  Mr.  Miller's  labors,  and 
later  on  he  reports  also  a  congrega- 
tion on  John's  River,  in  Burke 
county.  It  seems  probable,  also, 
that  the  congregation  admitted  into 
union  with  the  convention  in  1822, 
under  the  name  of  St.  Peter's 
Church,  Lexington,  was  part  of  his 
charge.  In  1821  the  congregations 
in  these  counties  were  under  his 
pastoral  care,  and  the  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Diocese  gave  him  as 
his  helpers  the  Rev.  Thomas  Wright, 
of  Wilmington,  who  bad  been  or- 
dained Deacon  by  Bishop  Moore  in 
1820,  and  the  Rev.  Robert  Davis,  of 
Orange  county,  ordained  Deacon  in 
1821 — though  Mr.  Wright's  time 
was    mostly   given    to   Wadesboro. 


27 

in  1823  Mr.  Davis  left  the  diocese, 
and  Mr.  Miller  reports  for  all  the 
churches  in  Rowan,  Lincoln,  Iredell, 
and  Burke  counties.  In  1824  he 
reports  that  the  Lutheran  members 
of  St.  Michael's  had  all  withdrawn, 
and  after  1825  the  name  of  this 
parish  disappears  from  the  journals 
of  the  convention.  The  portion  of 
the  congregation  remaining  under 
Mr.  Miller's  care  was  composed 
almost  entirely  of  one  family — that 
of  Mr.  Charles  Mills — and  lor  some 
years  it  is  reported  under  the  name 
of  that  family,  "Mills',  Iredell 
county."  It  is  now  the  parish  of 
St.  James,  Iredell  county. 

There  is  little  more  to  be  told, 
except  the  bare  outlines  contained 
in  the  parochial  report.  St.  Luke's, 
Salisbury,  Christ  Church,  Rowan, 
St.  James,  Iredell,  fairly  represent 
parishes  partly  founded  by  this 
venerable  man.  St.  Andrew's, 
Burke,  was  probably  the  beginning 
of  the  present  parish  at  Lenoir; 
White  Haven  has  long  crumb'ed  to 
decay ;  of  St  Peter's  and  Smyrna, 
Lincoln  county,  even  the  locality  is 
forgotten. 

Mr.  Miller  attended  no  conven- 
tion after  that  of  1829.  He  is  men- 
tioned from  time  to  time  in  the  Ad- 
dresses of  Bishop  Ravenscroft  and 
of  Bishop  Ives,  and  always  with  the 
greatest  affection  and  respect.  His 
bodily  strength  gradually  decaj'ed, 
and  in  his  address  to  the  convention 
of  1835  Bishop  Ives  says:  "In  re- 
cording the  changes  which,  during 
the  past  year,  have  occurred  among 
us,  I  notice  with  unfeigned  sorrow 
the  death  of  the  Reverend  Robert  J. 
Miller,  of  Burke  county,  a  clergy- 
man of  whom  we  may  emphatically 
say,  for  Mm  to  live  was  Christ;  and  to 
die  is  gain." 

Oct.  8th,  1885.  J.  B.C.,  Jr. 


III. 

Fraternal  Relations. 


THE   DIOCESAN  CONVENTION  AND    THE 
LUTHERAN    SYNOD. 


It  is  a  fact  not  generally  remem- 
bered that  delegations  from  the 
Lutheran  Synod  once  sat  in  the 
Convention  of  the  Diocese  of 
North  Carolina,  and  ihat  our  dele- 
gates also  sai  in  the  Lutheran 
Synod.  The  names  of  the  Rev. 
Gottlieb  Shober,  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Soberer,  Gen'l.  Paul  Barringer,  and 
Col-  Henry  Ratz  are  found  among 
the  list  of  members  of  the  conven- 
tion of  1823,  and  during  this  period 
the  minutes  of  the  Lutheran  Synod 
record  the  presence  of  the  Rev. 
Adam  Empie,  the  Rev.  G.  T.  Be- 
dell, and  the  Hon.  Duncan  Came 
ron,  from  our  convention. 

These  mutual  courtesies  were  due 
directly  to  the  influence  of  the  Rev. 
Robert  Johnston  Miller,  and  they 
constitute  an  after-piece  to  the  pecu- 
liar and  anomalous  position  which 
he  occupied  for  the  twenty-seven 
years  of  his  connection  with  the 
Lutheran  Synod.  A  brief  consid- 
eration of  the  relation  formerly 
existing  between  the  Lutherans 
and  Churchmen  in  North  Carolina, 
will,  therefore,  not  unfitly  conclude 
this  imperfect  account  of  his  life 
and  work. 

Concerning  this  episode  in  our 
diocesan  history  there  is  little  of 
importance  to  be  related,  except 
what  is  contained  in  the  journals 
of  the  convention,  for  the  years 
1821,  1822,  and    1823.     But    copies 


29 

of  those  early  journals  are  now  so 
scarce  that  few  persons  are  ac- 
quainted with  the  particulars  of  our 
diocesan  history  during  that  period, 
and  it  is  hoped  that  the  following 
paragraphs  may  not  be  considered 
as  altogether  superfluous. 

It  is  often  apparent  that  the  best 
informed  members  of  our  diocean 
conventions  are  ignorant  of  the 
recorded  proceedings  of  the  conven- 
tions of  fifty  years  ago,  even  when 
those  proceedings  relate  to  ex- 
isting  interests.  In  the  conven- 
tion held  at  Asheville,  in  May, 
1885,  an  important  matter  was 
discnssed,  affecting  the  present 
interests  of  the  dioceses  of 
North  and  East  Carolina.  The 
question  at  issue  depended  upon 
certain  recorded  action  of  former 
conventions,  and  yet  not  one  man 
who  discussed  it,  bishop,  priest, 
deacon,  or  layman,  could  give  any 
clear  and  acurate  information  in  re- 
gard to  it.  It  is,  therefore,  not  im- 
probable that  many  persons  in 
North  and  East  Carolina  may  be 
ignorant  even  of  those  facts  of 
our  fraternal  intercourse  with  the 
Lutherans,  which  the  printed  jour- 
nals preserve. 

But  though  concerning  the  actual 
interchange  of  friendly  greetings 
between  the  two  bodies,  and  the 
visits  of  fraternal  delegations,  there 
is  little  new  to  be  related,  yet  there 
is  this  to  be  observed,  which  has 
hitherto  escaped  attention;  that  the 
friendship  between  the  Lutherans 
and  the  Churchmen  in  North  Caro- 
lina did  not  result  from  the  influence 
of  Mr.  Miller.     On  the    contrary  it 


30 

was  the  state  of  mutual  sympathy 
and  friendship  between  the  two,  ex- 
isting long  before  Mr.  Miller  came 
into  the  country,  which  explains  his 
curious  course  of  conduct.  He  only 
perpetuated  and  rendered  more  close 
and  intimate  a  state  of  feeling  be- 
tween them  which  he  found  exist- 
ing in  1786. 

It  has  been  already  remarked 
that  there  was  much  in  the  doc- 
trines and  worship  of  the  old  Luth- 
erans to  attract  the  favorable  re- 
gard of  Churchmen.  Indeed,  it  is 
well  known  that  Luther  and  Melanc- 
thon  and  other  protestant  divines 
exercised  no  small  influence  upon 
the  course  and  character  of  the 
English  Reformation.  The  further 
fact  that  the  Hanoverian  Kings 
were  originally  Lutherans,  and  so 
far  as  they  had  any  religion  at  all, 
remained  Lutherans  until  the  acces- 
sion of  George  III,  had  a  tendency 
to  promote  a  friendly  feeling  be- 
tween the  members  of  the  two  com 
munions  in  the  colonies.  In  the 
reign  of  Queen  Anne  overtures  were 
made  by  the  King  of  Prussia  look- 
ing to  the  adoption  by  the  Luther- 
ans of  Prussia  of  the  Articles  and 
the  Liturgy  of  the  English  Church, 
and  the  proposition  to  consecrate 
bishops  for  Prussia,  and  so  to  con- 
vey to  that  kingdom  the  Apostolic 
succession  was  reee'ved  so  favorably 
that  the  most  sanguine  hopes  were 
entertained.  But  for  delays  and 
complications  caused  by  the  desire 
to  include  Hanover  in  this  arrange- 
ment, it  seems  more  than  likely 
that  these  two  great  barriers  against 
Eoman  tyranny,  the  Church  of  Eng- 


31 

land  and  the  Lutherans  of  Germany, 
might  have  been  happily  united. 
As  further  illustrating  the  friendly 
relations  which  have  thus  for  cen- 
turies been  preserved,  it  may  be 
mentioned  that  for  some  years  past 
the  Prussian  and  British  govern- 
ments have  maintained  a  bishop  at 
Jerusalem,  selected  alternately  from 
England  and  Germany,  and  con- 
secrated by  the  English  bishops. 

From  all  this  it  may  be  inferred 
that  the  natural  state  of  feeling  be- 
tween Lutherans  and  Churchmen, 
who  found  themselves  in  a  condi- 
tion of  common  poverty  and  desti- 
tution in  the  wilds  of  the  new  world, 
was  of  the  kindest  and  most  friendly 
character;  and  we  are  prepared  to 
find  evidences  of  this  among  the 
German  and  English  settlers  along 
the  banks  ot  the  Yadkin  and  the 
Catawba. 

The  records  of  those  days  are  too 
meager  to  afford  us  detailed  accounts 
of  such  matters  as  this,  but  the  evi- 
dence, though  scanty,  is  conclusive. 
In  Dr.  Rumple's  account  of  the 
establishment  of  "the  oldest  Luth- 
eran congregation  organized  in  the 
Province  of  North  Carolina,"  he 
says,  "in  the  year  of  1768,  John 
Lewis  Beard,  a  wealthy  citizen  of 
Salisbury,  and  a  member  of  the 
Lutheran  Church,  was  bereaved  by 
the  death  of  a  daughter,  and  her 
body  was  interred  in  a  lot  of  ground 
owned  by  her  father.  To  prevent 
her  remains  from  being  disturbed 
by  the  march  of  civilization,  Mr. 
Beard  executed  a  deed  for  the  lot, 
containing  144  square^  poles,,  to  a 
body  cf  trustees  of  the  Evangelical 


32 

Lutheran  congregation  of  the 
Township  of  Salisbury,  allowing 
ministers  of  the  High  [si'c]  Church 
of  England  to  occupy  it,  when  not 
used  by  the  Lutherans."  The  build- 
ings afterward  erected  upon  this 
lot  were  used  in  accordance  with  the 
provisions  of  the  above  deed  down 
to  the  year  1825. 

The  Rev.  Theodorus  Swain  Drage 
having  been  "licensed  for  the  Plan- 
tations" by  the  bishop  of  London, 
May  29th,  1769,  was  by  Gov.  Tryon 
recommended  to  the  vestry  of  St. 
Luke's  parish,  Rowan  county,  by  a 
letter  dated  November  12th,  of  the 
same  year.  July  9th,  1770,  the  Gov- 
ernor sent  him  a  letter  of  induction. 
He  seems  to  have  gone  to  Salisbury 
in  the  Autumn  of  1769  and  to 
have  entered  at  once  upon  the  task 
of  putting  into  effect  the  colonial 
law  for  the  organization  of  the  par- 
ish and  the  support  of  the  church. 
In  this  he  was  strenuously  opposed 
by  the  Presbyterian  element  in  the 
county,  and  a  protracted  struggle 
ensued,  from  which  Mr.  Drage 
seemb  after  a  year  or  two  to  have 
retired,  despairing  of  success.  This 
is  mentioned  merely  to  emphasize 
the  fact  that  during  all  this  exciting 
period  there  is  evidence  of  the  most 
perfect  accord  and  harmony  be- 
tween the  Lutherans  and  the 
Churchmen.  In  his  letters  Mr. 
Drage  speaks  of  the  relations  be- 
tween them  as  being  kindly  and 
cordial,  and  in  the  most  critical 
period  of  their  history  he  showed 
nim3elf  disposed  to  do  all  in  his 
power  to  further  the  interests  of 
the  Lutherans,  as  the  following  facts 
prove: 

Dr.  Bernheim    relates    that    "in 


33 

the  year  1772  Christopher  Bintel- 
mann,  from  Organ  Church,  in  Bow 
an  county,  and  Christopher  Layrle, 
from  St.  John's  Church,  in  Meek 
lenburg  county,  were  sent  as  a 
delegation  to  Europe.  *  *  *  for 
a  supply  ot  ministers  and  school 
teachers,  for  the  various  Lutheran 
congregations,  then  organized  in 
North  Carolina,"  and  adds  that 
"these  commissioners  traveled  first 
to  London."  Dr.  Bernheim  says 
nothing  ot  the  relations  between 
the  Lutherans  and  Churchmen  at 
this  period,  but  in  the  MS.  volume 
of  documents  relating  to  North 
Carolina,  in  the  archives  of  the 
General  Convention  is  a  letter  from 
the  Bev.  Mr.  Drage  to  the  Secretary 
©f  the  Society  for  the  Propogation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  dated 
"Salisbury,  St.  Luke's  Parish,  N. 
C,  February  28th,  1771,"  in  which 
he  commends  to  the  attention  and 
kind  offices  of  the  Society,  "two  of 
his  parishioners,"  who,  he  says, were 
about  to  go  to  England  and  thence 
to  Germany,  to  raise  an  endowment 
for  a  Lutheran  minister  and  school 
master.  This  was  unquestionably 
the  delegation  of  which  Dr.  Bern 
heim  speaks.  It  may  have  been  un- 
expectedly delayed  until  next  year, 
or  Mr.  Drage,  following  the  old  cus 
torn,  may  have  dated  his  letter  Feb- 
ruary 1771,  when  according  to  our 
present  usage  we  should  date  it 
1772.  In  the  same  letter  Mr.  Drage 
speaks  of  the  cordial  relations  ex- 
isting between  the  "Lutherans  and 
the  Churchmen  of  the  county.  The 
fact  that  so  uncompromising  a 
champion    of  the    rights    of     the 


34 

Church,  speaks  in  this  way,  and 
shows  so  much  interest  in  assisting 
the  Lutherans  in  their  first  effort 
to  obtain  ministers  and  teachers  for 
their  struggling  congregations,  in- 
dicates a  warm  and  earnest  feeling 
of  mutual  sympathy  and  affection, 
which  is  also  confirmed  by  other 
parts  of  his  correspondence. 

When  Mr.  Miller  Settled  upon  the 
Catawba  in  1786  the  leading  Luth- 
eran minister  in  North  Carolina  was 
the  R,ev.  Adolph  ISussmann,  who 
had  been  sent  out  in  1773  in  re- 
sponse to  the  appeal  of  the  delega- 
tion above  referred  to.  It  was 
therefore  but  natural  that  he  should 
find  himself  falling  into  the  habit  of 
friendly  intercourse,  which  he  found 
already  established.  The  steps  by 
which  he  was  led  to  attempt  a  still 
closer  and  more  intimate  union  of 
the  two  religious  bodies  have  been 
described  in  lormer  articles. 

With  the  first  promise  of  reviving 
life  and  prosperity  in  the  church  in 
North  Carolina,  the  idea  of  organic 
union  with  the  Lutherans  was  found 
to  be  an  impracticable  one. 

Unfortunately  the  Lutherans 
during  the  time  of  Mr.  Miller's  con- 
nection with  them,  had  been  grad- 
ually drifting  away  from  their  own 
system  of  doctrine  and  worship, 
and  becoming  more  and  more  like 
the  bodies  of  English  dissenters  by 
whom  they  were  chiefly  surrounded. 
This  is  no  place  for  the  discussion 
of  this  question,  but  it  is  a  fact  that 
in  1821,  when  Mr.  Miller  was  or- 
dained deacon  and  priest  by  Bishop 
Moore,  the  Lutherans  of  North  Car- 
olina bad  almost  totally  abandoned 


35 

those  devotional  practices,  and  those 
sacramental  doctrines,  which  had 
both  in  Europe  and  America  been 
such  a  bond  of  union  between  them 
and  us.  But  there  still  remained 
a  sentiment  springing  from  the  mem- 
ory of  past  association,  and  Mr. 
Miller  anxiously  sought  to  perpe- 
tuate the  fraternal  relation  in  which 
he  had  lived  with  his  Lutheran 
brethren  for  neai'ly  thirty  years. 

His  first  appearance  in  the  con- 
vention was  as  a  delegate  from  the 
Lutheran  Synod.  On  page  fourth 
of  the  journal  of  1821,  is  the  follow- 
ing entry:  "It  being  ascertained 
that  the  Rev.  Robert  Johnson  Mil- 
ler, of  Burke  county,  has  come  to 
this  convention  in  the  capacity  of 
a  delegate  from  the  German  and 
English  Lutheran  Synod  of  North 
Carolina,  and  for  the  purpose  of 
effecting  as  far  as  practicable,  inter- 
course and  union  between  the  Epis- 
copalians and  some  of  the  Lutheran 
congregations : 

Resolved,  That  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mil 
ler  be  cordially  received  in  the 
above  capacity  and  admitted  to  a 
seat  in  this  convention."  Mr.  Mil- 
ler also  presented  a  formal  commu- 
nication from  the  Synod,  and  upon 
the  recommendation  of  the  com- 
mittee on  the  state  of  the  church, 
the  Revs.  Adam  Empie  and  G.  T. 
Bedell  and  the  Hon.  Duncan  Cam- 
eron were  appointed  a  committee  to 
attend  the  L  utheran  Synod  and  "to 
consider  of  and  agree  upon  such 
terms  of  union,  as  may  tend  to  the 
mutual  advantage  and  welfare  of 
both  churches,  not  inconsistant  with 
the  constitution  and  canons  of  this 
church." 


36 

This  committee  attended  the 
meeting  of  the  synod  held  in  Lau's 
Church,  Guilford  county,  on  the 
17th  of  June,  1821,  with  a  letter 
from  Bishop  Moore,  conveying  to 
to  that  body  information  concerning 
the  above  action  of  the  convention. 
The  minutes  of  the  Synod  say  ex 
pressly  that  the  committee  "were 
all  affectionately  received,"  and  the 
following  committee  appointed  to 
confer  with  them,  namely:  the 
Eevs.  G.  Shober,  Michael  Eauch, 
and  Henry  Eatz,  Esq.  The  result 
of  the  conference  between  these 
two  committees  was  a  series  of  res- 
olutions which  will  be  found  on 
page  11  of  the  journal  of  1822.  They 
declare  that  it  is  deemed  "expedient 
and  desirable  that  the  Lutheran 
Synod  and  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church  of  North  Carolina  should 
be  united  together  in  the  closest 
bonds  of  friendship;"  they  then 
provide  that  each  of  these  bodies 
"may  send  a  delegation  of  one  or 
more  persons"  to  the  other;  and 
that  .these  delegates  shall  be  entitled 
to  speak  and  to  vote  "in  all  cases 
except  when  a  division  is  called  for, 
in  which  case  they  shall  not  vote," 
and  they  further  provide  that  all 
ministers  of  either  body  shall  be 
entitled  to  honorary  seats  in  the 
other.  These  resolutions  were  at 
once  adopted  by  the  Synod,  and  the 
Eevs.  G.  Shober,  Jacob  Scherer  and 
Henry  Eatz,  Esq.,  were  appointed 
delegates  to  the  convention,  which 
was  to  meet  in  Ealeigh  in  April, 
1822. 

At  this    convention    (1822)    none 
of  the    Lutheran     delegates     were 


37 

present,  but  the  committee  pre- 
sented the  resolutions  agreed  upon 
and  adopted  by  the  Synod,  together 
with  a  letter  from  the  Eev,  G. 
Shober,  and  the  resolutions  were 
unanimously  adopted.  At  the  same 
time  the  Eev.  Messrs.  Miller,  Davis 
and  Wright  of  the  clergy,  and 
Messrs.  Alexander  Caldcleugh,  and 
Duncan  Cameron  were  appointed 
delegates  to  the  Lutheran  Synod. 

In  the  journals  of  1823,  page  3, 
among  the  names  of  the  attending 
members  of  the  convention,  we 
find  the  following :  "  The  Eev.  G-. 
Shober,  the  Eev.  Daniel  Sherer, 
Gen.  Paul  Barringer  and  Col. 
Henry  Eatz,"  and  on  page  15  we 
read  that  the  Eev.  Messrs.  Miller 
and  Davis,  of  the  clergy,  and  Dr. 
Wm,  E.  Holt,  and  Alexander 
Caldcleugh,  of  the  laity,  were  ap- 
pointed delegates  to  the  Lutheran 
Synod. 

With  the  Convention  of  1823  all 
mention  of  delegates  to  or  from  the 
Lutheran  Synod  ceases,  though  no 
formal  action  was  taken  to  repeal 
the  "Fraternal  Union  ;  "  and  under 
it  a  delegation  from  either  body 
might  still  probably  be  entitled  to 
sit  and  to  vote  in  the  other.  But 
as  the  Lutherans  and  Episcopalians 
were  chiefly  settled  in  different 
parts  of  the  State,  and  held  their 
meetings  in  towns  far  distant  from 
each  other,  there  were  difficulties 
in  carrying  out  this  arrangement, 
while  no  compensating  benefits 
seemed  likely  to  be  gained.  The 
Convention  of  1823  was  held  in 
Salisbury ;  hence  the  attendance  of 
Lutherans    at    that   time.     Up    to 


38 

1840  only  once  again  did  the  Con- 
vention meet  in  the  west,  and  we 
hear  no  more  of  delegations  from 
Synod  or  from  Convention. 

But  though  this  may  be  a  suf- 
ficient reason  to  account  for  the 
fact  of  the  cessation  of  this  in- 
terchanges of  delegations,  yet  there 
were  probably  deeper  and  more 
fundamental  causes  which  would 
under  other  circumstances  have 
produced  the  same  result.  By  the 
consecration  of  a  Bishop  of  North 
Carolina,  and  by  the  distinct  and 
positive  Church  teaching  of  Bishop 
Ravenscroft,  the  differences  between 
the  Lutherans  and  Episcopalians 
must  have  been  brought  out  with  a 
distinctness  unknown  before.  Al- 
though several  of  the  Lutheran 
Churches  in  Europe  had  preserved 
the  Apostolic  episcopate,  and  the 
old  Swedish  churches  in  Pennsyl- 
vania had  already  united  with  the 
Episcopal  Church  and  acknowledged 
the  pastoral  government  of  Bishop 
White.  The  IN  orth  Carolina  Luther- 
ans were  not  at  all  inclined  to  such 
a  union  as  this.  Their  pastors  were 
mostly  from  Hanover,  and,  as  has 
been  said  before,  they  had  fallen  off 
very  much  from  the  purity  of  early 
Lutheranism.  The  Augsburg  Con- 
fession itself  was  branded  by  their 
Synod  as  being  tainted  with  Roman- 
ism, and  they  had  for  some  years 
allowed  unordained  men  to  admin- 
ister both  the  sacraments;  liturgical 
services  had  very  generally  fallen 
into  disuse,  and  at  this  very  time 
the  most  acrimonious  controversy 
was  raging  among  them,  and  a 
schism  had  already  oeen  made,  re- 


39 

suiting  chiefly  from  this  back-slid- 
ing from  their  old  principles. 

It  is  also  beyond  question  that 
Mr.  Miller's  creditable  desire  for  a 
closer  union  with  the  Lutherans 
had  involved  his  own  people  in 
these  same  corruptions  of  doctrine 
and  practice,  so  that  perhaps  the 
greater  part  of  them  had  become 
almost  entirely  estranged  from  the 
principles  and  the  customs  of  the 
Church.  Bishop  Raven  sci-oft's  great 
work  was  to  give  such  a  certain 
sound  that  no  one  could  mistake  it, 
and  to  find  out  who  in  North  Caro- 
lina was  on  the  side  of  the  Church 
as  a  matter  of  conscience  and  with 
distinct  and  intelligent  convictions. 
Even  had  the  principles  of  Church- 
men and  Lutherans  been  much 
more  in  accord  than  they  were, 
there  could  have  been  no  sort  of 
sympathy  between  the  spirit  which 
began  to  animate  the  Church  in  this 
State,  and  that  which  then  prevailed 
among  the  Lutheran  brethren. 

But  still  further,  the  fundamental 
principle  of  the  Church  being  the 
maintenance,  not  only  of  primitive 
truth,  but  of  Apostolic  Order  as 
well,  it  was  hardly  to  be  expected 
that  those  who  had  departed  from 
the  latter,  and  who  did  not  require 
any  kind  of  ordination  in  a  minister 
of  God's  Word  and  Sacraments, 
should  remain  in  such  perfect  sym- 
pathy with  her  as  to  take  part  in 
her  councils  and  legislation.  It  is 
gratifying  to  remember  the  spirit 
of  mutual  love  which  this  long  co- 
operation and  friendship  indicated, 
and  we  may  trust  that  it  still  con- 
tinues, but  such  a  union  as  the  one 
attempted  was,  in  the  nature  of  the 
case,  impracticable. 

J.  B.  C,  Jr. 

Oct.  22d,  1885. 


